Review: Lethal Weapon 2

Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Murtaugh (Danny Glover) are back, and this time they’re tangling with South African diplomats (Joss Ackland, Derrick O’Connor, Mark Rolston among them) who use their immunity as protection for their drug-smuggling activities. Meanwhile, Riggs falls for pretty South African secretary Patsy Kensit. Joe Pesci turns up as Leo Getz, a motor-mouth money launderer currently in witness protection. Darlene Love and Traci Wolfe return as Murtaugh’s wife and daughter, whilst various cop characters are played by the likes of Jenette Goldstein, Dean Norris, Nestor Serrano, and Grand L. Bush. Jack McGee plays a carpenter, and Steve Kahan is once again the police captain.

 

For some people, this 1989 Richard Donner (“Lethal Weapon”, “Superman”, “Ladyhawke”, “The Omen”, “The Goonies” – all favourites of mine) buddy cop sequel is the best film in the franchise. For most, it’s the best of the sequels. Gulp. Guess I’m gonna be that guy again today, because for me, this is and has always been, my least favourite “Lethal Weapon” film. In fact, I liked it even less this time around, to the point where it’s not quite good enough for me to give even a mild recommendation to. It’s relatively watchable, just very disappointing and the plot just didn’t grab me all that much. It’s also loud as hell, even more so than the other films in the franchise. Even the title crashes on-screen loudly.

 

The opening scene with Mel Gibson immediately acting like he’s coked out of his mind, is obnoxious. Pitched at 11, he’s like a cartoon version of the character he played in the first film. Thankfully, it doesn’t take long before Gibson settles down and gives his usual terrific performance as the volatile but well-meaning Riggs. I sometimes wonder uncomfortably just how close Gibson and the character of Riggs are to one another. It certainly ran across my mind re-watching this in 2020. Danny Glover gives a grounded, likeable turn in his best role as the always-ready-to-retire Murtaugh. They’re a great team, and genuinely beloved characters, even in a lesser entry like this one. It’s a very action and plot-heavy film, with the action being a touch overpitched even for this series to be honest. These villains are way too MDK-happy and deliver a body count that would seem a touch high even for a Schwarzenegger vehicle.

 

The plot – and supporting characters for the most part – aren’t terribly interesting. Pop singer/actress Patsy Kensit was clearly out of her depth here, and gives a truly dreadful, whispered performance of tedium. I assume she’s gotten better over the years – she’s a British TV veteran these days it seems – but here she can’t act her way out of a paper bag, and it’s a pretty big issue. Her character is also introduced into the plot a fair bit too late, to be honest. That’s a big issue too, there’s no time for character development. Booming-voiced Joss Ackland is a terrific character actor (he’s hilarious in the Pet Shop Boys ‘Always on My Mind’ video) and is well-cast as the diplomat villain…it’s just not a very interesting or menacing character. Like Kensit, he also drifts in and out of the film too much to really stick in one’s mind. Derrick O’Connor is pretty effective as his chief henchman though, a real nasty bastard (More on him in a minute). I guess having Seth Effriken villains was timely in 1989, but that doesn’t make them interesting or threatening – or credible, the diplomatic status protection thing didn’t terribly convince. Most of the actors are fine, they’re just dull characters committing dull crimes. Yawn, drug traffickers with diplomatic status/immunity. How exciting. Maybe they could’ve worked in another film, but not one with “Lethal Weapon” in the title. Yes, it means you get hilarious scenes like the one with Glover and Joe Pesci at the South African consulate, that’s true. Otherwise though…I wasn’t terribly engaged by what was going on here. Apparently the first film’s scribe Shane Black co-wrote the story that the screenplay is based on here, but I doubt much of his work was used. I’m pretty sure he would’ve found more interesting villains and a more engaging plot than this. He also likely wouldn’t have dared to tie Derrick O’Connor’s assassin character to events from the first film. It’s utterly absurd, unnecessary, and highly unlikely. What on Earth was screenwriter Jeffrey Boam (“The Dead Zone”, the underrated “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”) thinking? If Black was indeed responsible for that, then fair enough, but I’m going with the credited screenwriter for now (The fact that Black wrote his own rejected script for the film tells me I’m probably on to something, though).

 

I also need to point out the huge amount of character actor talent gone to waste here. In addition to Ackland being off screen too much, the likes of Grand L. Bush, Dean Norris, Donner’s cousin Steve Kahan (terrific as always), Jenette Goldstein (who has one memorably stupid scene), Mark Rolston, the always lovely and always underused Darlene Love, Nestor Serrano, and a cameo-ing Jack McGee (who apparently ad-libbed his best moment that I won’t spoil) all get one or two scenes at most. The film is overpopulated. The film’s biggest shining light is clearly Joe Pesci, in one of his finest hours as a character actor. So much so that they brought him back for the next two sequels (and in some people’s views, played the schtick into the ground a bit). Here though, he’s the film’s chief bit of inspiration, and Pesci absolutely delivers. He had a pretty great run between 1989 and about 1993, didn’t he? As the motormouth, foul-mouthed money launderer Leo Getz, Pesci is a deliberately annoying hoot, giving the film its biggest laughs and biggest surge of energy. I think with the rest of the film being so action and plot-oriented, Pesci’s comedic value is really beneficial. His whole ‘They fuck you at the drive-thru’ speech is one for the ages, as far as I’m concerned.

 

A most blockbuster-y action film from the blockbuster action movie era. Lots of noise, uneven results. There’s some great moments here and there (bomb on a toilet, anyone?), a few good performances, but a fairly dull plot and uninteresting diplomat villains. The overblown, explosion-heavy action seems more Renny Harlin than Richard Donner, but nonetheless this is indeed a Donner film. A disappointing one. Joe Pesci is hilarious, Gibson and Glover are solid, otherwise this one’s lacking the charm and fun of the others in the series (Admittedly I haven’t seen “Lethal Weapon 4” in about 15 years though).

 

Rating: C+